South Africa’s Sevens best imploded in New Zealand, but somehow still made the quarter-finals.

What a disappointment in performance for the Blitzbokke, but what a bit of good fortune in advancing to the quarter-finals despite winning just one league game. The South Africans were down right awful in losing to Samoa 19-10 and being stunned by Canada 26-15.

The South Africans won their final match on day one against Wales 21-0 and this gave them a statistical edge over Canada and Wales, who had also won just one match.

The biggest shock belonged to World Series leaders Fiji, who failed to make the quarter-finals for the first time in the history of the World Series. Fiji lost to Scotland and Australia.

Hosts New Zealand came close to going the same way and limped to the play-offs. The New Zealanders were beaten by England and needed a 17-10 win against the USA to advance.

England, having whipped the All Blacks at Twickenham, have the wood over New Zealand in rugby at the moment. The England women triumphed three-nil in the most recent series in England and now the Sevens team proved too good for the Kiwis.